On March 21st, the Landmarks Committee of Community Board 4 voted to NOT recommend the Chetrit Group's proposal for an addition to the roof of the Hotel Chelsea. Rumor has been that new owner Joseph Chetrit wants to add a rooftop bar, though they've denied it when asked. Last night, the full Community Board had a chance to respond to recommendation—here's some video which shows architect Gene Kaufman explaining the plans: more ›

The Monkey House at the Bronx Zoo is now officially closed. If you are sad about that, maybe recalling that the Monkey House used to house an actual human being will help those tears dry up (yes, in 1906 a Congolese pygmy named Ota Benga was part of the exhibition there). Anyway, the zoo closed the doors to the Monkey House after 111 years of activity; it's the second oldest building on their grounds (and it's landmarked, so you don't have to worry about it getting torn down). more ›

Duane Reade is a New York City shop to its very foundation, founded in 1960 by brothers who opened three stores here, with a warehouse located between Duane and Reade streets. These days the chain has even branded their products as NYC-centric, with bar codes in the shape of city landmarks, trail mixes named after different neighborhoods, and Brooklyn beers on tap. So how is it that they've confused Chicago for New York City? And how upset should we actually get about this? more ›

The new shop housed inside of the historic Gage & Tollner space in Downtown Brooklyn is almost making its previous tenant Arby's look good. The discount jewelry store, Ladies and Gents, opened earlier this summer, and now the NY Post reports that they've brought in hot pink walls. more ›

The obvious solution (Katie Sokoler/Gothamist) more ›

After years of disuse, the landmarked Upper West Side Metro movie theater at Broadway and 99th Street is getting close to landing a new tenant, the Times reports. And unlike the last time we talked about a potential tenant for the space—Urban Outfitters was planning to move in but legal troubles eventually meant the retailer settled in across the street—it appears that the arts will stay in the picture. So who's interested? A deal is reportedly close with the non-profit arts education group Wingspan Arts, but everyone from synagogues to AMC has been sniffing around. more ›

That treehouse on lower 5th Avenue gets to stay put. Melinda Hackett erected the tiny house in her Greenwich Village backyard, but one of her neighbors ratted her out to the cops and wanted the neat little structure demolished. After around 6 months of legal battles, Hackett has learned that she gets to keep her treehouse and its been granted landmark status! Check it out: more ›

One small step for the remains of the 1964 World’s Fair site: the Unisphere Fountain has been restored and reopened after nearly $2 million in improvements! Earlier this week Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe & Co. cut the ribbon at the site of the Queens icon at Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The Unisphere was officially designated a New York City Landmark in 1995, and this is the first time the fountain has been operational since that designation was made. more ›

The next time you pass by 5 Beekman Street (near City Hall Park), now you'll know it's abandoned. Nick Carr at Scouting NY got inside recently and discovered the building's lonely secret: there's no one inside. He reports back with some amazing photos of the interior, and notes that it's been empty for around a decade "with much of the interior shuttered since 1940." Allegedly the atrium you see pictured was boarded up at that time due to firecode violations, hiding it from future tenants—but it will all be restored. Carr says the new owners are converting the building in to a hotel, to be called The Beekman Palace. more ›

The NY Times has a feature on the loyalty of the Flatiron building's commercial tenants, even though the landmark features a very awkward layout. "The elevator bank, the waiting area and the stairway eat up an unusual amount of space" and an executive from St. Martin's Press, whose parent company MacMillan publishers is six-and-a-half years through its 15 year lease, said, "We’ve used every nook and cranny. You’re lucky if you get 70 percent of the floor space." more ›

The Landmarks Preservation Commission just awarded the former William Ulmer Brewery in Brooklyn landmark designation. The old brewery is at Belvidere and Beaver streets in Bushwick, and according to the Post is the first NYC brewery to get the LPC stamp of approval. A board member told the paper, "If it's the first brewery in the city of New York to become a landmark, it's appropriate that it's in Brooklyn," as the borough used to be the brewing capital of the Northeast. more ›

What does one do with an old, now landmarked, theater in Queens? That's the big question for the owners of Ridgewood Theatre—in January the facade was landmarked, but the interior can still be renovated—leaving a few options on their hands. more ›

Finally the Post's Andrea Peyser weighs in on Windowgate, the ongoing controversy starring Norah Jones—who had the audacity to install windows in her new Cobble Hill home. (Catch up here.) She got 7 of her 10 windows after fighting the Landmarks Preservation Commission regarding their archaic ways, and now the Grammy winner has her natural light. But Peyser says her win "is a warning to the aging Italian-American population that remains in gentrifying Carroll Gardens." more ›

Coney Island locals have been rallying to revive the shuttered Shore Theater (formerly the Loew’s Coney Island), which five years ago was nominated for landmark designation. Yesterday the group—led by Dick Zigun—made a plea to building owner Horace Bullard at the Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing. According the NY Post, he told the owner: "Horace, cash out now, and we'll call it the Bullard Center for the Performing Arts!" more ›

The Landmarks Preservation Commission has deemed the art deco Brill Building, located at 1619 Broadway, worthy of landmark designation. The 11-story tower at the corner of Broadway and 49th Street has been churning out the hits since the early 1930s, becoming familiar stomping grounds for many music industry bigwigs and still housing the office of Mr. Paul Simon. more ›

A recent Cornell University study [PDF] filed through Flickr pictures and determined photogs' favorite places and things. It found that New York City is the most frequently photographed location on Earth, with London and San Francisco following. The Empire State Building is the 7th most-photographed landmark. Twenty-eighth on the list? The glass-encased Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in Midtown. more ›

Does the Landmarks Preservation Commission have a brownstone bias? Earlier this year the group revealed that they would be focusing their efforts on Park Slope while delaying landmark status designations in Ditmas Park and Beverly Square West. One Ditmas resident says, "The [LPC] has limited resources, but it shouldn't be to the exclusion of the Victorian neighborhoods. If it's worthy, they should fund it and do it." more ›

The latest city building to get landmark designation from the LPC is a 180-year-old Federal-style row house at 143 Allen Street on the Lower East Side. According to the Villager it was built, along with five others, in 1830 by ship captain George Sutton. more ›

The city is backing out of plans to purchase the historic Wyckoff-Bennett House in Brooklyn even though the 18th-century Dutch farmhouse—located on East 22nd Street near Avenue P—is one of the few left standing and it's still inhabited. Homeowners Stuart and Annette Mont say they've gone through a decade of negotiations and preparations with the Parks Department, but now a new deal has been proposed that isn't to their liking. more ›

It's beginning to look like the glitzy, upscale Plaza Hotel may go the way of Tavern on the Green. After a century in the business, the landmark hotel and playground to Eloise is losing its cache, and its profits too. Where the Plaza's gilded halls are concerned, do New Yorkers want in with the new, out with the gold? more ›

Last year there was some lobbying to get the longest-running movie house in the nation landmarked after word got out that it would reopen under new ownership. Now, the 91-year-old Ridgewood Theatre in Queens has had its facade granted landmark status. There was not a lot to save of the interior, so as the new owners renovate the space into a theater/retail hybrid, that will likely change significantly — though 1010Wins does report that they "envision a historically sensitive plan." Yesterday it was announced that another old theater, the Loews in Chinatown, would also get a new lease on life — albeit a non-landmarked one. more ›

After the New York State Pavilion at the former World's Fair site gained landmark status, the structure finally started moving towards getting preserved. Now's your chance to help out! The HDC reports that this Saturday and next they're looking for 12-40 volunteers "to help out onsite on... performing a range of activities from removal of invasive vegetation, to the careful and systematic collection and bagging of map fragments that have been dislodged from the floor of the Pavilion." RSVP here, and meet in Flushing Meadows Park at 9 a.m. (further instructions will be sent out prior to meeting). more ›

Whenever there's a story about the site of the World's Fair you can be certain the words neglected and/or deteriorated will be used. Last year the city was criticized for not better preserving the 130' x 166' terrazzo replica of a Texaco New York State road map at the New York State Pavilion. The winter weather dislodged and even cracked panels after a decision not to protect it was made. more ›

Following the 40th anniversary of Jack Kerouac's death (which was yesterday), a fan of the author is speaking out again about the lack of recognition the beat gets in his one-time home borough of Queens. more ›

There has been talk in the past of saving the Sylvan Court mews, with some questioning why the Landmarks Preservation Commission has ignored them, when all other historic mews districts are preserved and landmarked in the city. Located on 121st Street between Lexington and Third Avenues, one neighborhood blogger notes that "mews are typically former 19th century stable yards that end abruptly in an alley-like layout." more ›

The landmark Corn Exchange Bank Building on 125th Street in Harlem used to be a picturesque structure, but now it's one of the most visible eyesores in the neighborhood. The building, "an 1883-84 Queen Anne and Romanesque Revival structure," according to the Times, will soon lose its top two floors; a decision recently made by the Department of Buildings who found it unsafe. A "fire caused by homeless folk" already aided in the roof collapsing, and there are trees growing inside, according to one neighborhood blogger. more ›

The 17-century Bowne house in Flushing, Queens is finally getting restored after ownership was transferred to the city; news that comes with much relief to Landmark nerds and historians (and anyone who hates to see beautiful old structures disintegrate in front of their very eyes). With $5 million from the city, state and private groups, Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe announced the plan to restore it is moving "full speed ahead," according to the Daily News. more ›